Adults, including early childhood teachers and caregivers (i.e., parents, carers, kinship members), have an important role in supporting young children's learning through play in early childhood. However, little consideration has been given to the relationship between these significant adults' perspectives of play and the play experiences of young…

Internationally, there are growing concerns about the work-related well-being of early childhood teachers. There is currently limited guidance around specific practices teachers can use to support their well-being when challenges arise while teaching. Mindful self-compassion practice, which has elements of mindfulness, common humanity, and…

It has been well-established that highly gendered, early childhood education workforces face major temporal, material, physical and psychological barriers to being well. This issue is particularly pressing in this political moment: a national childcare policy program is being rolled out for the first time in Canadian history. It is in this context…

Rapid technology advancements and global responses to sustainability have had a transformational impact on education in the 21st century. As early childhood teachers in Aotearoa/New Zealand respond these challenges, many have recognised the potential inquiry-based project learning (IBPL) has to transform learning for children through empowering…

Although studies have investigated the enablers and barriers of digital teaching and learning of STEM, the integration of digital technologies into teaching geometry -- one of the main mathematical concepts, is frequently ignored and does not garner much scholarly attention. To fill this specific gap, this small-scale qualitative study explored…

Educators working in early childhood education play a critical role in enhancing outcomes for children and families through active leadership. However, there are persistent paradoxical perceptions regarding the practical implementation of followership alongside leadership. This article addresses this followership paradox, as a key finding drawn…

This article explores the practices of 'Acknowledgement to Country' in Australian early childhood education contexts. Acknowledgement is a process of seeking out and honouring local Aboriginal Country and knowledge and investing in local resources of language, art, stories, nature and songs. Twenty educators across six early learning centres…

Early childhood (EC) professionals are valuable educators and teachers, and their work involves being caregivers, yet the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the lack of 'caring about' and 'for' EC professionals. With the increasing focus on educator wellbeing, this paper explores how eight EC professionals understand the role of…

This paper explores how leadership is addressed within Australia's National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy (ACECQA, 2021). The Workforce Strategy has been widely welcomed, arriving at a time of unprecedented workforce pressures in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. Yet, on close examination there appears an…

Despite the role pedagogical leadership plays in quality early childhood education and care services, limited research to date has explored the appointment and enactment of educational leaders in Australia. This qualitative study explored the role and influence of two educational leaders in a high-quality rated service. Findings revealed that…

Leadership competencies in early childhood (EC) education present an intricate policy and practice landscape. This article provides insights into these complexities and shares a novel survey evaluation tool that can be used in services for identifying leadership competencies and gaps for ongoing professional development. The research employed a…

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Australia is facing a workforce crisis. A knowledge gap around educators studying to pursue a career in ECEC, particularly in long day care (LDC), has prompted research with Australian educators who engage in further education and training while working in LDC services. The paper examines 32…

Little is known about children's participation in early childhood education (ECE) in regional and remote areas in Australia. This research addresses this gap by investigating the perspectives of early childhood centre directors and educators who work directly in ECE services in these areas. The study used a two-stage mixed methodology, including…

This article discusses infant-toddler educators' perspectives of using the Observe, Reflect, Improve Children's Learning tool (ORICL) in practice. ORICL is a new tool informed by implementation science and co-designed with Australian early childhood education and care policy-makers, practitioners, and service providers. It aims to support…

This paper reports from a pilot study investigating the ways digital documentation platforms are changing educators' work in early childhood education. Digital documentation platforms are secure websites or application software, enabled by computer, smartphone, or tablet technologies, allowing educators to record observations of children's…